When I was pregnant with my daughter, I thought a lot about what kind of mother I wanted to be. I had/have a great friend that used to read tons of books on child-rearing and I absorbed what made sense and let what didn't just go through from one ear to the other.
But one thing that I absolutely knew was that I was going to do my best to let her know how unbelievably important she was to me. I have always made it a practice to set aside what I was doing -- if it wasn't earth shattering, to listen to what she has to say. I don't always STOP everything, and she knows it, but when I can, I do. I only have her for a short while and then she will be on her own -- I owe her my respect and attention.
And, this weekend, she paid me back.
We had talked about using Friday to watch our week's worth of shows that are DVR'd because both of us are busy with work/school during the week. About an hour into it, she got a phone call from a girlfriend that wanted to chat. The first words out of her mouth? "I've got to get off the phone, I'm having "catch up" night with my Mom". And she got off the phone.
What's my step forward today? You simply never know how your giving is going to be given back, but you should rest assured that it will be worth it. And, you should not be afraid to give -- even if it is "only time" or "only undivided attention" for a couple of minutes.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
3 Minute Zen Zone -- October 2nd, 2008
My blog is about self-discovery and the realization that the journey of self-discovery requires you to sit down, really think about what you are doing and why. The coolest part is that as I go down this path of self-discovery -- I actually find that I am able to reach out to those around me more.
I started this journey almost 2 years ago -- quite by accident. I love talking about it with my friends and I've often spoken about it in class but I was fortunate enough to be enrolled in a corporate leadership building series -- once a month seminars to help us work more truthfully -- not a question of integrity but being true to ourselves and opening up to allow ourselves to have the hard discussions -- which are always more productive in the end.
The beginning of that series was so hard -- it was so tough to face the fact that I was the only one that could take responsibility for me. I loved those days at the same time -- it was a time when these seminars were the only place that I felt that I could be creative, be spontaneous, be "out of the box". I was so exhilarated -- even though I would often feel like crying.
My pivotal moment was when I was standing in my Family Room, just standing there -- and I looked at my husband and said "I'm so unhappy and I know that I am the only one that can fix it". It was after that that my courage began to return, that my spirit began to come back, that I started really mapping out a life path and facing the fear to take a risk. It feels like a million years ago -- but it was only 18 months ago.
As far as I feel that I have come, I know that it is only the beginning of the journey -- I will never finish but I was always be close.
If you want to start your own journey start by thinking about these questions:
Do you spend some time each day thinking about where the day is taking you?
Are you doing something for you that enables you to say "I am living life to the fullest"?
Do you stop and think about your work / life balance?
Do you sit and wish that you'd "just tried that new path"?
Stop wishing -- start doing! Even one small step moves you forward. My small step today is writing this blog. What was yours?
My 3 minutes are up for today...
but what about tomorrow?
jal
I started this journey almost 2 years ago -- quite by accident. I love talking about it with my friends and I've often spoken about it in class but I was fortunate enough to be enrolled in a corporate leadership building series -- once a month seminars to help us work more truthfully -- not a question of integrity but being true to ourselves and opening up to allow ourselves to have the hard discussions -- which are always more productive in the end.
The beginning of that series was so hard -- it was so tough to face the fact that I was the only one that could take responsibility for me. I loved those days at the same time -- it was a time when these seminars were the only place that I felt that I could be creative, be spontaneous, be "out of the box". I was so exhilarated -- even though I would often feel like crying.
My pivotal moment was when I was standing in my Family Room, just standing there -- and I looked at my husband and said "I'm so unhappy and I know that I am the only one that can fix it". It was after that that my courage began to return, that my spirit began to come back, that I started really mapping out a life path and facing the fear to take a risk. It feels like a million years ago -- but it was only 18 months ago.
As far as I feel that I have come, I know that it is only the beginning of the journey -- I will never finish but I was always be close.
If you want to start your own journey start by thinking about these questions:
Do you spend some time each day thinking about where the day is taking you?
Are you doing something for you that enables you to say "I am living life to the fullest"?
Do you stop and think about your work / life balance?
Do you sit and wish that you'd "just tried that new path"?
Stop wishing -- start doing! Even one small step moves you forward. My small step today is writing this blog. What was yours?
My 3 minutes are up for today...
but what about tomorrow?
jal
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